How to Stay Spooky in a World That’s Already Put Up Christmas Lights

Colour / Reading Time 6.5 mins Approx

So the neighbours have hung their Christmas lights already. The shops are playing carols on loop. But you? You’ve got skeletons in your closet (literally) and a horror aesthetic you refuse to surrender.

Let’s be honest — the switch happens overnight.

One minute, you’re knee-deep in cobwebs and candy corn. The next, it’s peppermint mochas, Mariah Carey, and a massacre of black decor replaced by red and green. The skeletons go back in their boxes. The ghosts get evicted. And you? You’re left wondering if it’s socially acceptable to still wear your “Resting Witch Face” hoodie in public.

Here’s the truth: it is.

Because staying spooky isn’t about refusing joy or being allergic to sparkle — it’s about refusing to shape-shift just because the calendar says so.

Spooky isn’t a holiday. It’s a personality trait.

And this, my unholy friends, is your guide to keeping that eerie energy alive when everyone else is jingling their bells like they’re possessed by consumerism.

Refuse the Great Cheer Conversion

Every November, it begins. A creeping sense of pressure to “brighten up.” The Christmas industrial complex rolls in like a Hallmark-sponsored exorcism, whispering that your dark aesthetic is out of season.

Ignore it.

You don’t need to replace your bats with baubles or your tarot deck with tinsel. You are not obligated to transition into a walking snow globe.

Spooky souls thrive year-round because we don’t follow the script. We create our own rituals, our own warmth, our own reasons to glow in the dark.

So while everyone else is staging matching pajama photoshoots, you can stage a séance for your self-respect. Here’s how.

1. Embrace Creepmas (or “Spooky Christmas”) Energy

Why fight it? Some horror-heads have already leaned into it: Creepmas is a thing. You take the holiday’s trimmings, overlay them with bats, skulls, black garlands — you make Christmas wear your face.  

• Decorate a Halloween-themed Christmas tree: black branches, purple/orange lights, mini pumpkins or skulls as baubles.

• Keep skeletons, gothic figurines, horror bobbleheads out — but give them a Santa hat or a bow.

• Use coloured lights (purple, orange, cool white) instead of traditional red/green so you don’t get swallowed by Christmas saturation.

By leaning into it, you don’t get lost — you dominate the aesthetic.

2. Reinforce Your Core Identity

Before the holiday push overwhelms you, anchor your spooky identity so it doesn’t erode. Ask:

• What are my non-negotiables? (Black candles, graveyard statuettes, certain music, etc.)

• Which elements of my everyday aesthetic can survive holiday crossover?

• What new rituals or symbols will see me through December and beyond?

Treat your identity like a fortress. The Christmas lights can beat against the walls, but they shouldn’t flood your throne room.

3. Holiday Decor That Doesn’t Ruin Your Vibe

You don’t have to surrender your home to Santa. With a few tweaks, your space can remain eerie, even through December.

• Swap in clear or muted lights instead of brash red/green bulbs. Use them all season so your skeletons and shadow art still read.

• Use natural elements (pine cones, fir, branches) but spray them black, whitewash them, or integrate them with webs, moss, dried flowers.

• Mix in winter textures with your gothic ones — icy fabrics, faux snow, frosted glass — so it feels seasonal but still dark.

• Transition pieces: keep a few Halloween props up (crows, bats) and drape them in subtle holiday touches.

This isn’t Christmas vs. Halloween. It’s a merger: spooky × frost.

4. Playlists That Haunt, Even Over Jingle Bells

Mariah Carey defrosts faster every year.

Before you know it, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has possessed every grocery store and café like a seasonal haunting.

You could fight it — or you could curate your own counter-spell.

Music is one of your most potent spooky tools. While the general population is stuck on “Jingle Bells,” you’re playing a soundtrack of shadows.

• Start with dark ambient, gothic rock, darkwave, synthwave, mixing in select ethernal/classic tracks, without bleeding into Mr. & Mrs. Claus.

• Build a playlist that keeps your atmosphere intact: Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, The Cure, Type O Negative. Add a little darkwave Christmas cover if you must, but keep your tone — moody, mysterious, deliciously you.

• Create transitional playlists: a “Merry Midnight” list that feels both holiday and haunting.

• Use silence intentionally. Let the quiet between songs be full of tension.

Your audio space should feel like an interlude, not a surrender. Sound controls energy. Energy controls mood. You can’t brood effectively if the background music sounds like an elf on espresso.

5. Wardrobe, Makeup & Self-Expression

While everyone’s in red and green, keep your bone tone. You don’t have to wear a full vampire garb to stay you. Yes, you can mix velvet and lace with your faux fur. You can wear black sequins and call it festive. You can walk into a Christmas party looking like Morticia Addams crashed Studio 54 — and they’ll never forget you.

• Integrate seasonal colours (deep burgundy, forest greens, silvers) into your gothic palette.

• Use makeup (smokey eyes, or a blood red lip) as your “Christmas killer accent.”

• Accessories: skull pins on your sweater, a dagger pin on your velvet blazer, skeletal gloves, chains, a choker that looks like a Christmas ornament from hell.

Let your aesthetic be subtly loud. You don’t have to scream “Halloween in December” — just whisper it elegantly. You should look like December swallowed a cemetery, and you’re okay with it.

6. Witchy Self-Care in the Midst of Cheer

Holidays come with noise, expectations, and emotional gravity. Spooky souls need special care.

• Daily rituals that ground you: Morning candle burns, tarot draws, journaling in black ink or black stationery.

• Boundaries with festive energy: If someone corners you about your decor, be ready with a charming but firm “I live best in shadow, thanks.”

• Dark rest & recharge: Blackout curtains, soft ambient music, time away from bright screens or tinsel overload.

• Create a “spooky safe space” at home — a corner with your horror books, skulls, faint scent of incense, where you rule.

• Declutter the dead energy - Take this time to shed what’s no longer serving your dark little empire. Clean your altar. Donate clothes that don’t make you feel powerful. Banish energy vampires (the human kind, not the fun kind).

You can’t stay spooky if your spirit is tired. You don’t owe anyone cheer. Rest in your shadows. Light your black candles. Pull a card. Even ghosts need boundaries.

Remember Jack Skellington? The Pumpkin King who stumbled into Christmas Town, dazzled by the sparkle and snow — until he tried to make it his own and everything caught fire? That’s the cautionary tale of seasonal identity crisis. You can appreciate the glitter without losing your graveyard roots. You don’t need to become the merry version of yourself to participate — just remix the season the way Jack should’ve: keep your cobwebs, add a little tinsel, and let your version of joy still come with fangs.

7. Social Strategy: Ghost When Needed

Yes, you should show up at parties. But you don’t have to be all things to all people.

• Choose your appearances wisely: attend parties or events that respect your vibe.

• Arrive late/leave early — stagger in like a specter, bow out before you’re drained.

• Bring a small “spooky gift” or talking piece (mini skull, candle, gothic bookmark).

• Use humour: when someone says “Merry Christmas,” respond with “Salutations from the abyss.” (Or something equally cheeky.)

• Or you be the host and control the aesthetic - throw a Winter Solstice dinner. Host a ghost story night. Exchange cursed gifts with your fellow creeps.

You can exist politely in a world going merry — without selling your shadow.

8. Projects, Content & Passion Work That Keeps the Flame Lit

Don’t let your creative spirit freeze. Fuel it.

• Start a “12 Nights of Spooky” mini-series on your blog or social media (December 13–24).

• Write dark short stories or poems with holiday undertones.

• DIY projects: haunted wreaths, creepy ornaments, bone garlands, gothic gingerbread houses.

• Host a swap party with fellow dark souls: spooky ornaments, horror books, black candles.

You’re not just enduring the season. You’re dominating it.

9. Remember: It’s Okay to Shift

Some years, holiday energy demands more concession. Some winters, you might coast quietly. That’s allowed.

• If you need to embrace some Christmas — do it your way. Festive doesn’t have to mean pastel.

• Know when to retreat: if your aesthetic feels diluted, step back, re-center, push minimal Christmas and maximise your core.

• Celebrate the overlap: spookified carols, gothic wreaths, “creepy Christmas” mashups.

• Follow ‘In Odd We Trust’ or join our ‘Cult of Odd’ - we got you covered.

You’re not betraying yourself when you lean in lightly — you’re adapting.

10. The Haunted Holiday Mindset

At its core, staying spooky in a world of Christmas lights is a mindset: refusal to surrender your tone, your identity, your rhythm. You don’t dim for the world. You flicker on.

• Let your aesthetic be your anchor.

• Let your rituals be your shield.

• Let your creativity be your guide.

• Choose presence over pressure.

Because when everyone else is garland-clad and sugar-dusted, you’re the midnight rose blooming in frost. Let them stare.

Final Invocation: Spooky Season Never Ends

Staying spooky in a world obsessed with premature Christmas cheer isn’t about rebellion — it’s about remembering who you are.

It’s about keeping your inner magic alive, your boundaries intact, and your sense of self turned up like a candle that refuses to go out.

You don’t have to pack your darkness away in a box marked seasonal décor. You are the season.

So when the lights get too bright and the world feels too loud, just whisper to yourself:

I am the calm in the chaos. I am the witch in the winter. I am the storm that doesn’t end when the calendar says so.

Now go — sip your cocoa like a curse, and remind them that spooky season is a lifestyle.

IN ODD WE TRUST Presents
A FIELD NOTES FROM THE DARK Production
Starring YOU, the protagonist in your own psychological thriller
Produced by A LIFETIME OF QUESTIONABLE DECISIONS
Directed by EXISTENTIAL DREAD Story by THAT VOICE IN YOUR HEAD AT 3AM
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